The Marriage Law of Twenty-Twenty-Six
by CanonCannon
Summary: Following the catastrophic deaths of the Wizarding War, in the year Twenty-Twenty-Six, the Ministry decide that the only way to compensate for the magical blood spilt is to enforce a compulsory Marriage Law, much to Dominique Weasley's displeasure. To top that, she's paired with her sister's boyfriend. Perfect. Rated M for strong language and suggested adult themes.
1. Ministry bullshit

**Wow, I haven't posted on here in such a long time...Regardless, I have been writing this story for ages now, and I thought I'd finally share it with the internet. As much as I hate how it sounds, this a romantic (cringe!) story between Dominique Weasley and Teddy Lupin. If you don't like that, you are under no obligation to read this, and can go and spend time reading fanfiction between other ships. I've grown to really love this story, and I hope you do also.**

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 _Disclaimer : As previously stated, this is _fan _fiction, and I am merely playing around with J. K Rowling's amazing creation that is the Harry Potter universe._

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The morning Dominique Weasley found out about the new Wizarding Law was a blustery October day. Through the window over her kitchen sink, you could see the leaves turning a crisp, copper colour and above that, a scattering of bright kites dipping and soaring through the dull, grey sky.

After she was rudely awoken by a painful headache in the early hours of the morning, she'd been trying – to no avail – to get back to sleep; but when the sun started to peak through London's famous skyline and into her small flat, she admitted defeat and called in sick.

So, when an owl arrived bearing news of a Marriage law (dripping water and Merlin knows what else onto her kitchen table and scaring the shit out of Dominique's owl, Pip), Dominique almost chocked on her searing hot coffee, bringing tears to her eyes that could well have been tears of anger. Blinking them away fiercely, she turned her eyes to the heavens and swore loudly.

"It's outrageous!" she said with a mouth full of Cheeriowls to her parents as they busied themselves around Shell Cottage's little kitchen less than a week later. "Forcing us to get married? It's so cowardly and inhumane I'm genuinely shocked that Kingsley let this happen!"

"You've got to realise, Dominique, after the Second Wizarding War, so much magical blood was spilt that-"

"Oh shut your fucking mouth Victoire," Dominique grumbled at her sister as the blonde stepped through the green flames of the fireplace and onto the landing.

"Dominique!" Fleur said, scowling at her youngest daughter, her hands on her hips in what was a rather scary stance. Dominique merely rolled her eyes at her mother's protest.

"You know, I'm not even the slightest bit worried about this law anyway," Victoire said, idly twirling a ribbon of silvery blonde hair through her fingertips. "I mean, Teddy and I are so perfect for each other, and the Ministry would be barking up the wrong broomstick if they didn't put us together." Dominique mimed being sick into her cereal bowl.

"Well, I agree _avec_ Dominique!" Fleur radically interjected. Dominique and her father raised their eyebrows in surprise. "You should be able to fall in love vhen you please and with 'oo you please. True love cannot be forced, no matter vhat those Seers at the Ministry think! _Il est extrêmement et totalement faux!_ "

Dominque smiled smugly at her sister and took a large glug of pumpkin juice in victory. Victoire suck out her tongue pointedly.

"Oh grow up, the pair of you." Bill Weasley said, looking up from the Daily Prophet. "No-one would guess you were in your mid-twenties."

Just as Louis strode through the front door sopping wet (he made the unwise decision to Apparate over instead of Floo like his sisters), Dominique rose from her chair and meandered leisurely over to the sink where she proceeded to wash up her bowl like the strong, independent twenty-three year old she was.

As she let the sink fill up with hot, bubbly water, she let her eyes sweep across the flat, sandy beach outside the window where, behind a thick layer of cloud, the sun was rising. Heavy autumnal rain mixed with the sea spray spat from the colossal waves that crashed mercilessly onto the shore. She could see her face reflected in the glass, and took in her only slightly distorted reflection.

Her unblemished heart-shaped face was a pretty tan colour, but you could tell she would be fair skinned if she had less exposure to the sun. Wide, doe-like pale sea green eyes were framed by long, thick lashes and heavy eyebrows. A small, buttoned nose sat over a full set of lips and an excellent set of pearly white teeth.

Her once long, blonde hair had been cut at her shoulders, and fell in loose bronzy-brown waves. She'd changed her locks on a rather foggy day in February when she was just twenty, after two incidents: 1. She overheard someone at the Ministry calling her 'Victoire Weasley's little sister', and 2. She was victim to one of her colleagues obnoxious 'dumb blonde' jokes; she preferred not to be associated with her sister and with nine 'Outstanding's in her O. she was _anything_ but dumb.

She thought, rather foolishly, of the Law she was required to participate in. Dominique was a restless person; always active and up to something or another, and it came to no surprise that she wasn't exactly the kind of person to hold a steady relationship and settle down. And her job – she was a Dragonologist, and because of that she spent most of her time out in Romania at the Dragon Sanctuary; she was hardly able to find and fall in love with someone if she most of her time overseas or cooped up in the Ministry filing reports for her team in the Dragon Research and Restraints Bureau (completely disregarding her short-lived romance with a gorgeous Irish co-worker).

 _And suppose I even found someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with_ , she thought as her hands soaked in the now lukewarm water, bubbles dotting her forearms, _I wouldn't want to get married. I would know I loved them, and they would know that, so what good does signing a Ministry parchment do? And then I'd be pressured to have kids, and I'd pity the child who ended up with me as a mother…_

Unfortunately, Dominique's ponderings were shattered with a high pitched squeal. Dominique turned back around irritably.

"Teddy!" Victoire shrieked, flinging herself into his arms and nearly knocking him over. Edward 'Teddy' Lupin was looking rather ambushed, and tried to steady himself on the skirting board, deep blue eyes wide with what Dominique would have described as terror.

"Don't hurt the poor man Vic, you only saw him yesterday," Louis said between mouthfuls of a bacon sandwich.

Dominique hastily pulled her bowl and spoon from the sink and flicked her wand as so to send them off drying themselves. She kissed her parents on the cheek, and then Teddy to piss Victoire off (which worked), wished her brother a nice day before Flooing home to take her seven twenty-four portkey to Romania.

For the majority of her time in Romania, Dominique was situated in the Apuseni Mountains, which was the area where they kept the most dangerous and lethal dragons. Muggles knew it as the Bihor Mountains, with a volcanic range extending north, called Vlădeasa.

Vlădeasa was where the mothers were kept during nesting, as they were extremely protective, and consequently very vicious, often sending spurts of red-hot dragon fire into the sky, claiming their land, Muggles would interpret this as volcanic action.

Bihor on the other hand, was often full of frisky males, which is why when Harvey Ridgebit built the Sanctuary in 1949, they choose the mountains with the highest peaks to conceal the Dragons from the Muggle world. Of course, there are countless different security charms that ensure that no Muggle could ever even know Dragons were there, but it makes life a little less complicated for everybody.

Despite being mid-October, the weather in Transylvania was a surprisingly warm twenty-three˚ Celsius with clear blue skies stretching, seemingly, for miles and miles.

Dominique had materialised on a rocky ledge several hundred feet up a mountain, her eyelids slamming shut at the sudden burst of sunlight. Soon enough, her eyes became adjusted to the harsh light, and blinking rapidly, she vanished the battered old baked bean can and followed her usual route to work. It wasn't like one's typical route, as Dominique had to scramble over and up several feet of rocks, before sliding into a cave that unless you knew it was there, you'd miss it completely.

She landed expertly in a cool, dark room, carved out from the existing rock, with a gentle _thud_. The smoky grey ceiling was domed and damp with moisture, and as Dominique stepped forwards, she could hear the unmistakable sound of a bat's wings clapping together as it shot, startled, out of its hidey hole.

Dominique ignited the tip of her wand with light and moved her wand over her watch. Seven twenty-eight. It had only taken her four and a half minutes to reach the entrance cave, and she recalled that Jet – short for Juliet – and Chase were scheduled for a seven twenty six portkey, so they should arrive in two minutes or so, depending on how fast they were moving.

After three, long minutes of waiting, Dominique heard faint voices in the distance, though she couldn't understand what they were saying, she recognised their voices immediately, and soon enough, a figure came crashing into the chamber with a loud thump and an equally loud "FUCK".

Biting back a laugh, Dominique sauntered over to the new comer and offered her arm to her friend, who proudly declined and scrambled to her feet, quickly brushing herself off.

"That absolute fucker pushed me!" She exclaimed angrily, flushing a deep scarlet that clashed terribly with her pixie cut plum-coloured hair. Her rounded face was twisted into a scowl, with her high arching brows and electric blue eyes, she gave the impression that she was not a witch to be messed with.

"Love you too dear," A deep voice said, alerting Dominique of his arrival.

The first thing you notice about Chase is that he's a very large person. Like, as if someone had taken a normal sized person and thought, _hey, I wonder how big I can make this person without making them seem part-giant._ He was well over 6ft, with big, broad muscly shoulders and a big, broad muscly rest of him. He had a tough looking oval shaped face, but it was often adorned with a cheeky grin and crinkled, grey eyes.

Chase had been Dominique's mentor when she had started her physical training in Dragonology, and she had instantly taken a liking to him, given that he treated her the same as everybody else and not like she was just some fragile nineteen year old girl. Being that young, there were no other witches or wizards around Dominique's age, and Chase had kindly introduced Dominique to his then-girlfriend now-wife Jet, who was only six years older than her.

As Jet hit her husband on his shoulder – the highest place she _could_ hit, being only 5'4 – Chase threw an arm around each of the women and they started walking through a tunnel lit by old-fashioned torches, casting long shadows across the curved walls.

"…and then, she said, 'they're not fucking ducks, grandma, they're rocks!'" Jet finished, throwing her head back and laughing at her own joke. Chase and Dominique looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. Dominique let out a breathy chuckle.

Just as Jet mockingly rounded on her husband for not laughing at her joke – which ironically made him laugh – the small group reached a gap in the tunnel, where sunlight with streaming through, cracking the darkness. Dominique clambered through first, welcoming the warmth of the Romanian sunlight, and set off to the large marquee where her fellow colleagues gathered, with Jet and Chase only a few paces behind her, Chase protesting that there was _no way_ he could've pinched Jet's bum and it must've been some sort of insect.

"Dominique!" called Lead Supervisor Fergus Dingleby, greeting her with a toothless grin and a bottle of icy water. "I just found out from my nephew yesterday about this Marriage Law nonsense, and it occurred to me that you will be inevitably caught up in it all.

"Now," he said, looking at her earnestly, his drooping, hazel eyes wide with sincerity. "I cannot put enough emphasis on what I'm about to say. I know that part of this law requires you having at least one child, but it would be a great loss if you were to give up your career to be a mother full time. Of course if that's what you-"

"No!" She interrupted. "I mean, I will need to take off some time in the beginning," – she tried not to sound too displeased at this – "but I love this job, and I'm not giving that up because of some Ministry bullshit."

Fergus smiled fondly, and clapped her hard on the back. Dominique grimaced.

"Thank Merlin for that," And with that he hobbled off, and Dominique was quickly pulled by the elbow (courtesy of her Uncle Charlie) to where her team was assembling in preparation for the extraction of a Dragon egg from one of the nests in Vlădeasa. Gripping her broomstick firmly in her right hand, she pushed every useless thought of the Marriage Law from her mind and focused fully on the difficult task at hand, grinning wildly to herself.

It wasn't until January the following year that Dominique received her letter addressing who she was expected to marry.

She woke up at six am with a sick feeling in her stomach, and it took a tremendous effort to haul herself out of bed and make herself a cup of coffee. As she sat, perched on her kitchen counter after feeding Pip, she idly flicked through the Prophet, taking sips of her coffee as she did so.

It was eight thirty-seven when she heard the inevitable tapping on the window. Hair still damp from her shower and making wet-patches on her burgundy jumper, she felt her heart drop like a stone to the pit of her stomach. Swallowing deeply, she tiptoed over to the window and opened it, letting the jittery owl in.

It hopped in cheerfully, and trying to put off opening the letter any sooner, Dominique shook some owl treats into a bowl for the bird, even though it probably only flew for five to ten minutes (Dominique's London flat was only several stops away from Whitehall on the tube – and yes, she knew what the Underground was! She's not some uncultured snobby witch, you know!). As the speckled tawny launched itself into feasting happily on the treats, Dominique nervously untied the letter from the small creature's leg. She was shaking so much the poor bird was moving along with her.

Suddenly, she became very, very scared. She didn't know what she'd expected to feel honestly, but she'd found herself hoping that the Ministry would just call the whole thing off, or say, _False Alarm!_ , but of course no such thing happened. Inside this fragile, flimsy envelope was the name of the man to whom she'd be married, whose children she would have to carry, who she would spend the rest of her life with, given there was no unpleasant divorce.

Dominique thought desperately of all the short lived relationships she'd had the past few years. Maybe if she'd made more of an effort to make it work, she'd already be happily married, and the only way this Marriage Law would affect her would be through others. But what good is all that now? Now, as she's standing in her kitchen, her hand trembling as she held the unopened letter?

Taking deep breaths, she carefully slid her index finger across the underneath of the envelope's tongue, breaking the blood red seal wax. The parchment seemed too delicate to contain something so life changing, and Dominique was overwhelmed with the desire to tear it up and not look at the name. But she didn't. She just stood there, for minutes, maybe hours, or possibly several sunlit days, holding the paper.

And then she slowly slipped her thumbs under the fold and biting down on her bottom lip, opened it.

The letter contained hundreds of different words in several paragraphs, but Dominique could only focus on two, nauseating words. Or more specifically, one name. One name that was emblazoned in giant red capital letters in the middle of the letter. One name that would undoubtedly ruin her life from this point onwards.

"Fuck," Dominique whispered.

She dropped the letter at her feet in shock, anger, confusion? Honestly, Dominique had no idea what she was feeling, but she was far from alright. The only thing her brain would comprehend was that she needed air and space and time to think.

Because she was marrying none other than Teddy Lupin.

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 **So that's it for this chapter! I have already written a fair bit of this story, so I will probably upload another chapter soon. If one would be so kind as to review and let me know what they think of this story so far, it would honestly make my day! I may also give a sneaky preview of the next chapter to those who are interested!**

 **And for those who were wondering, when Fleur says, " _Il est extrêmement et totalement faux!",_ in English, it means, _It is extremely and totally wrong!_**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter! It's quite a bit shorter than the first chapter but hopefully it's just as good :))**

 **Big thank you to GBFSAAF02 for adding this to their story alert - it means a lot!**

 **And also to Black Mirror (guest) for leaving a lovely review! It made my day!**

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"It's just awful, Jet!" Dominique moaned, cradling a hot cup of chamomile tea in her hands.

She had taken off from her flat in quite a state, running out into the rain and kicking a lamppost, consequently breaking two toes. Cursing loudly, she'd ruled out going to her flat – because Victoire could get in there and confrontation was not what she needed right now – and Apparated straight to Jet and Chase's apartment.

"I know," Jet said softly, stroking her friend's hair tenderly and putting down a plate stacked with fig rolls. Dominique took a large sip of her tea.

"Jet?" Dominique asked, looking up at her friend, her brows furrowed.

"Yeah, poppet?"

"I know they call it 'tea and sympathy', but I fucking hate the stuff." Dominique said, pulling a face at the mug in her hands and chuckling slightly, whilst Jet roared with laughter.

"Some Brit you are," Chase said, strolling in through the door and kissing his wife on the cheek. Dominique shrugged.

Chase hung up his jacket on a hook on the back of the door he just came through, and took his time making himself a cup of tea, before going to settle down in his usual armchair by the fireplace with the newspaper. No sooner had his buttocks touched the plush cushion, did the Muggle telephone in the hallway go off. Cursing audibly, he went to go and answer it, grumbling about how it was a huge mistake getting that 'ruddy' thing installed, but Jet interrupted him.

"Oh no, I'll get it; it's probably a call from that gardener I wrote to!" And she disappeared round the corner as a flash of plum and denim.

Dominique tipped her unwanted tea down the sink, ignoring Chase's oh-so witty remarks and poured herself a tall glass of pumpkin juice. She sat herself down in her favourite loveseat by the window, making sure to take the plate of fig rolls with her.

"Hey, sprite," Chase said, looking over at the petite brunette with an empathetic look on his face. Dominique made a small nose in the back of her throat that registered as a 'yes'. "Look, I know this whole 'Marriage Law' thing sucks, but your sister's gonna get over it, but if she can't; that's her problem, not yours, so don't let it become one. And this Teddy fella, he sounds alright, and I know from experience the Ministry's full of shit, but there's bound to be a reason they paired you two up."

Dominique opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Jet poking round the corner.

"Dom, it's your mum," She jerked her head towards the phone in her hand and gave a non-convincing smile of encouragement. Dominique shot Chase what she hoped with a grateful smile before grabbing the phone from Jet's grasp.

"Look _Maman_ , I don't really want to hear one-hundred-and-one reasons why Victoire and Teddy are meant to be so cut the crap and just yell at me or something," Dominique said dully into the phone.

"She's _absolutement_ distraught, 'Nique, could you please come over and comfort her? Teddy said 'e called round your flat but you veren't there, and they've already contacted the Ministry to check if there vas a mistake, and they're certain there 'asn't been…"

" Oh mon Dieu, putain ! Je n'y peux rien, d'accord ?" Dominique said spitefully into the receiver. Chase and Jet looked at each other, and though neither could speak French well enough to understand what she was saying, they could tell by her tone it was probably rather explicit. Dominique could hear her mother huff angrily as she struggled what to say.

"Your grandmuzzer is organizing a gathering for all of your cousins and their respective partners and you are expected to be there!" Her mother barked, her voice thick with her French accent.

"Honestly? I'd rather scratch my eyes out. But thanks."

"And Teddy really vants to see you so you two can talk," Her mother continued stubbornly.

"Well," Dominique said, her voice rising. "He can ask me himself then!"

And then she hung up abruptly, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning.

Jet hurried over and looped an arm around her waist comfortingly.

"It's getting late, poppet. I'm just gonna nip upstairs and make you a bed, alright? And if you think you're going anywhere," She added when she saw Dominique's mouth open in protest. "You've got to be fucking crazy, love."

Dominque didn't properly go back to her flat until the following week. She'd Flooed in briefly to grab her work clothes and toiletries, but couldn't bring herself to do anything more than look at the huge pile of letters that had collected on her kitchen table.

When she decided that she'd overstayed her welcome at the Portendorfer's, Dominique reluctantly returned home to her flat, grumbling to herself.

The first thing she did was take a long, hot shower, relishing in the leisure in which she could take it. She took her time washing and conditioning her hair, and stood beneath the falling water as if it were rain.

 _Teddy's be infatuated with Victoire for about as long as I've been infatuated with Dragons,_ Dominique mused watching two drops of water race town the tiles in her shower. _It makes absolutely no sense that now_ I _have to marry the guy, and –eugh- have his children! He's like my cousin and it's practically incest! And it's just so wrong! I should've been paired up with some cocky Quidditch reporter that has a huge appreciation for Dragons and other cool things and you know, ISN'T DATING MY SISTER! Ugh, it's just so hard to wrap my head around, I mean, c'mon, now Victoire's never gonna speak to me again, and whilst I don't mind because she's an irritating prick, she's still my sister, and I just, it's just all so SWEET MOTHER OF MERLIN THIS WATER IS FUCKING FREEZING!_

Stepping out of the shower, Dominique wrapped herself tightly in a towel and sent a warming charm through her body. She scurried into her room where she dressed in an over-sized Slytherin hoodie from her Hogwarts days, and a pair of dark grey and black Muggle tracksuit bottoms, contrasting fantastically with her Weird Sisters socks. Feeling the best she had been in days, Dominique headed to her kitchen with a small spring in her step.

Putting the kettle on, she flicked through her mail, humming an upbeat Muggle song, but stopped when she recognized a howler with some very familiar handwriting scribbled across the front. By the looks of things, it had been there for a couple of days, and the longer you wait to open a howler, the more terrible it is. Not wanting to delay it any further and make it worse, Dominique opened the scarlet letter.

"DOMINIQUE NYMPHADORA APPOLINE WEASLEY," began the shrill voice of Victoire, sounding the most livid Dominique had ever heard her. "HOW ON EARTH COULD YOU, MY LITTLE SISTER, STEAL THE LOVE OF MY LIFE FROM ME? TEDDY AND I HAVE BEEN TOGETHER FOR THE BEST PART OF THREE YEARS, AND BEFORE THEN, FOUR YEARS! YOU HAVE MADE AN ABSOLUTELY LETHAL MISTAKE BY CROSSING ME, DOMINIQUE, AND YOU SHALL REGRET IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! TEDDY IS MINE, ALWAYS HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE! THERE HAS GOT TO HAVE BEEN A MISTAKE AND IF THERE HASN'T, I AM CONVINCED THAT YOU HAVE HAD A HAND IN THIS! THERE IS C'EST PAS VRAI THAT I AM ALLOWING THIS! IF YOU DARE COME TO CONFRONT ME, YOU'LL BE IN FOR A BIG SURPRISE! GO FUCK YOURSELF!"

And with that, the letter singed red hot and rendered to ashes. Over the noise of Pip's hysteria at the sudden noise, Dominique could almost feel herself swell with rage. Victoire had some nerve sending her that letter, saying that she had a part in obliging herself to marry Teddy! Great Merlin above, she'd never even thought of Teddy that way until she was literally forced to! And Victoire was an awful dueller, if she even tried to jinx her sister she would find herself victim to one of Dominique's expert Bat-Bogey Hexes, or another of her specialties. Dominique had always fancied using a Tongue-Tying curse on her sister; just the thought of her sister spluttering and turning beetroot red with anger made her laugh.

"I suppose this is a bad time to suggest a coffee?" Dominique jumped at the sudden voice, and quickly saw Teddy's face flickering amongst the green flames of her fire place.

"Shit, Teddy, give a girl some word of warning," Dominique said, resting her hand over her heart and breathing deeply to steady her racing pulse.

"I did. I wrote three letters." He replied matter-of-factly, an irritating smirk dignifying his features.

"Fat load of good three letters do when I'm not in my flat for a week, eh?" She retorted crossly. Teddy just chuckled.

"What day are you working at the Ministry next week?" He inquired, ignoring her witty remark. Dominique hesitated significantly before answering.

"Tuesday,"

"Well, can I request that we go out for Lunch on Tuesday? Twelve O'clock at Oden's?"

"Make it one O'clock at Little Frankie's and I'll be there."

"Done and done. I look forward to it."

"That makes one of us."

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 **So that's it for this chapter! I know there's not been much interaction between Teddy and Dominique as of yet but there will be in the next chapter!**

 ** _Oh mon Dieu, putain ! Je n'y peux rien, d'accord ?_ \- Oh my fucking god! I had nothing to do with it, okay? (or something to that affect at least)**

 **Please leave me a review and let me know what you thought of it?**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm sorry that I haven't updated sooner! School has been pretty hectic but in all honesty I've just been putting off posting this for some reason. Anyway it is here now, so enjoy!**

 **A big thank you to** _Black Mirror_ **for leaving a lovely review again! It means a lot that you are still following this story despite being a Guest reader! And as you mentioned, there will be a lot more Teddy in this chapter and I hope you like it!**

 **Thanks also to** _fatosg_ **for your lovely review. I also agree that Victoire is exaggerating, and I picture the Howler being sent when she first heard about the news. In this story, her and Teddy had been having issues for a long time up until this point (to do with them being together for so long and no proposal or serious thoughts of the future) so she jumped to conclusions and let out her anger onto Dominique, who she'd never gotten on well with, because it was easier to be angry at her than at herself for her failed relationship. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **And finally thanks to** _fleurdelislady_ **for your wonderful supportive review. It means a lot that you are liking this story and I hope I do not disappoint!**

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Dominique woke up feeling pretty groggy the Tuesday she was scheduled to meet Teddy for lunch. She recalled downing a bottle of red wine as she watched Bridget Jones' Diary on her television set along with several glasses of firewhiskey and groaned.

Whilst her days at Ministry were significantly shorter than her days at the Sanctuary (starting at nine instead of half past seven, and finishing at five as opposed to half past six), working in a poky office made it feel like ten times longer.

She had a glass of hangover potion alongside her much needed morning coffee, instantly making her feel better, though still not her usual perky self. Jumping in the shower, she scrubbed clean and washed her hair, before selecting a pretty decent outfit that consisted of a green jumper, a denim pinafore and some spunky boots. Drying her hair with a charm and leaving it down, she swiftly applied minimal face makeup, before putting on a deep red lipstick that made her teeth seem to glow.

"Not bad," Dominique muttered to herself in approval, before Apparating into a side alley near the super-secret entrance to the Ministry in Whitehall. It wasn't really so much as a super-secret entrance as it was the Visitors entrance, but Dominique loved an excuse to take Muggle transport and thought the whole journey was much more exciting than Flooing in.

This super-secret entrance was in fact, a rather battered telephone box, that wasn't very super-secret, as there was already someone using it's, uh, facilities. Dominique crossed the road and leant against a rather vandalised concrete wall until the man – who she reckoned worked in the Goblin Liaison office - had disappeared from view. Making sure no-one had seen, she quickly crossed the road and slid into the box.

She dialled the usual code – six two four four two – and watched as the dial whirred back into place and a cool female voice sounded inside the box.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Dominique Weasley, Dragon Research and Restraints Bureau." She replied just as coolly.

A small badge slid out of the metal chute where returned coins normally appeared. Dominique plucked out of the chute and pinned it on her pinafore carefully.

"Ministry employee, you are required to head straight to your place of business for today and restrain from dawdling in the Atrium."

Dominique cleared her throat loudly and impatiently.

The floor of the telephone box shuddered and the pavement rose up past it's glass windows; the weeds and cracked slabs of concrete were sliding out of sight; blackness closed over her head and with a dull grinding noise Dominique sank down into the depths of the Ministry of Magic.

A chink of soft golden light hit her feet and, widening, rose up her body, until it hit her in the face and she had to blink to stop her eyes from watering.

"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day."

The door of the telephone box sprang open and Dominique stepped smoothly out of it, having mastered not tripping up on the step after several embarrassing occasions.

She was standing at one end of a very long a splendid hall with a highly polished, dark wood floor. The peacock blue ceiling was inlaid with gleaming golden symbols that kept moving and changing like some enormous heavenly noticeboard. The walls on each side were panelled in shiny dark wood and had many gilded fireplaces set into them. Every few seconds a witch or wizard would emerge from one of the left-hand fireplaces with a soft whoosh. The right hand side, however, was mostly vacant, apart from a handful of wizards departing from a night shift.

Halfway down the hall was a fountain. A group of golden statues, larger than life-size, stood in the middle of a circular pool. Tallest of them all was a noble-looking wizard with his wand pointing straight up in the air. Grouped around him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house elf. The last three were all looking adoringly up at the witch and wizard. Glittering jets of water were flying from the ends of their wands, the point of the centaurs arrow, the tip of the goblin's hat and each of the house-elf's ears, so that the tinkling hiss of falling water was added to the pops and cracks of the Apparators and the clatter of footsteps as hundreds of witches and wizards, most of whom were wearing glum, early-morning looks, strode towards a set of golden gates at the far end of the wall.

Tensing her jaw apprehensively, Dominique squeezed herself into a lift between a rather large, troll-like man and a mousy haired witch who was carrying a rather large container of what seemed to be owl droppings. Lovely, Dominique thought to herself, wrinkling her nose. Just when I though I couldn't have a worse day than originally planned.

And of course, with her luck, when she arrived, barely on time, there was a large stack of paper work piled onto her desk. Well fuck.

Dominique was in the middle of correcting a letter to the French Ministry of Magic's Dragon Research Department, initially written by her supervisor who was truly terrible at French, when Teddy poked his head around the door, a large grin plastered across his face.

Dominique looked up quizzically, her brows furrowed in confusion. Teddy jerked his head towards the not-so-helpful clock on the wall. It was fourteen minutes past one, fourteen minutes past their scheduled meet time by the fountain in the Atrium.

"Shit," She swore, flicking her wand and sending the various documents on her desk in makeshift piles in an attempt to tidy it. Grabbing her jacket from the coat stand, she yelled at her co-worker Andy (a middle-aged wizard with greying hair and kind eyes) that she was going on her lunch break and ran out the door.

"Forgot about me?" Teddy said, smiling down at the brunette. Dominique looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "Because, I mean we're getting hitched so I think you should start paying me some attention."

"Don't flatter yourself, Lupin; I'll pay you some attention when you've earnt it." Laughing, Teddy led them into the direction of a lift, which was just as unpleasantly crowded as the one Dominique had squashed into that very morning, albeit there were no man-trolls and Teddy definitely smelt nicer than the lady carrying owl shit, but that wasn't really saying much.

Dominique let out a huge breath of air when they reached the not-so-fresh air of London, and grinned to herself, not caring that she probably looked like a maniac to Muggle passers-by.

"So where is this 'Little Frankie's' then," Teddy asked, pulling her to one side to let people pass along the busy street.

"If you take the next right, it's the third road on the left," Dominique said hurriedly. Teddy gave her a strange look that didn't go unnoticed by his companion. "I really love Muggle London, okay? It's refreshingly blunt."

"Takes one to know one, eh?" Teddy retorted cheekily, earning him a shove.

"Do you want me to show you where this place is? Because I could just take off and leave you stranded here and you obviously don't know your way around." Dominique jeered, raising her eyebrow threateningly. Teddy opened his mouth as if to say something, but shut it abruptly and frowned to himself. Dominique smirked in victory.

Little Frankie's was on the corner of Whitehall, a stone's throw away from Charing Cross Station and Trafalgar Square, and was a small restaurant from the large Muggle chain Frankie and Benny's, which served Italian-American cuisine.

A short, plump man led them beaming to a small booth with a gorgeous view of Nelson's column and the fountains and the lions, proudly overlooking the hustle and bustle of London. Dominique hastily ordered two Diet Cokes for her and Teddy.

Dominique wanted to say something, but she had no idea what would be appropriate at such times. She was desperately trying to avoid talking about them getting married, as she was desperately trying to avoid thinking about it – which of course made her think about it even more. The whole concept this seemed surreal to Dominique, even sat across from Teddy.

He was tall and rather lanky, and you could tell that even though he was sitting down. Normally, he had unruly messy turquoise hair, but for this occasion, he had opted for a dark brown, obviously trying not to draw attention to himself from Muggles.

Dominique thought this was absurd, that you would change yourself to be accepted in a society you don't even belong to. In places such as London, people are often too busy to pay much attention to others, and the likelihood is that you'll only ever see these people once in your whole life, because the world is filled to bursting with people, and so you might as well stand out if you can.

His eyes were a dark blue, focused on the menu in front of him. He had a tan, clean shaven, oval-shaped face, with high cheekbones and a large nose that would look bizarre on anyone's face but his own, on which is fitted perfectly. Overall, she could see why Victoire thought he was so attractive, but she'd spent her whole life looking at him the same way she'd look at James, or Fred, so it was a strange thing to grasp.

When their drinks arrived, they quickly ordered – Dominique settling for a chicken and bacon salad, and Teddy for a warm pulled beef bagel – and they were almost forced to talk to each other, as their bulky, obstructing menus had been taken away.

"So, uh," Teddy said, clearing his throat. "How are we going to go about this? The whole getting married thing, I mean." He looked nervously at Dominique, who was pointedly staring out the window.

"Um, well I guess we need to pick out an engagement ring and sort out wedding dates and shit." She replied anxiously, fiddling with her napkin. Get a grip, Dominique! She scorned herself. You're a fucking Dragonologist, flimsy wedding plans shouldn't faze you! Dropping her napkin, she forced out a smile. "And I think we should move in together sooner rather than later."

Dominique had even surprised herself with the suggestion, but it was Teddy who spluttered on his soda. He soon composed himself.

"Yeah, um, I'll arrange to have your stuff moved into my place before Easter." Teddy said, stirring around the ice in his drink with his straw. Dominique laughed.

"Hmm, I don't think so Mister," She snickered. "You're moving in with me."

"But my flat's bigger," He contradicted.

"So?"

"So, there's more space for us and the expected baby," Teddy smiled smugly, thinking the argument won.

"Here's what we'll do," Dominique said after taking a large swig of her cola. "You sell up, move in with me, and then we can use the money from the sale of your place combined with what I saved buying my flat and what my flat will sell for to buy a nice terraced house somewhere."

"But you're flat's one bedroomed, it won't go for much."

"I think you'll find, that my flat is in impeccable condition in a very, very desirable area. Trust me, it'll go for plenty." Dominique stated, sipping her drink.

"But it's tiny…"

"It has a reasonable kitchen, living area, bathroom, master bedroom and a balcony with a gorgeous view of the London sky-line. It's perfectly liveable and it's only temporary. And it has easy access to the Underground and if you want this relationship to run smoothly you seriously need to be more up to date with Muggle culture." Dominique finished, closing the conversation for anymore speculation and/or debate. Teddy huffed and slouched slightly in his seat.

Their food arrived not long after that. And not much else was said until the waiter came to clear away their plates.

"So, we should go ring shopping sometime next week?" Teddy asked as Dominique sorted out the Muggle money for the bill.

"Yeah, I'll take Thursday off to get rid of some of my stuff to make room for your things, so I should be able to do anytime that day." She said, counting out the change for the tip.

"Great, and uh, what time should I pick you up for that thing Molly's organised?" He said as the waiter collected the bill. Dominique laughed.

"Oh Teddy, I'm not going! Spending five hours at the Burrow with my sister and her ex-boyfriend who happens to be my now husband-to-be over tea and cake does not sound like a very fun few hours."

* * *

 **That's it for this chapter! I hope you liked it!**

 **Finally, some Teddy and Dominique interaction! And it's only.. _.the third chapter_? Teddy may seem a bit weird in this chapter, almost like he has several different personalities. It was intentional, and I used that to try and show how, like Dominique, he's still trying to process the whole situation, which is why one moment he's joking about them getting hitched, and another he's approaching moving in together as if it were a business deal. I will soon have a chapter from his point of view, so that will hopefully make it easier to understand why he's saying certain things.**

 **I am aware that this story is moving fairly slowly, and a warning that it is going to be a multi-chapter fanfiction, but that's the style that I write so please bear with me.**

 _ **And for those eagle eyed readers, the bit where Dominique goes into the Ministry of magic was taken from the Order of the Phoenix, and I just switched the name Harry with the name Dominique. There is**_ **no way** _ **that I am trying to pass that off as my own work - it belongs to J. K Rowling, but I struggled for a description of the Ministry, so I thought, what better than the canon one? I hope I didn't offend anyone by using this, it was certainly not my intention. I could only ever dream of writing something as brilliant as Jo.**_


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